CANstruction: Fighting Hunger One Can at a Time

by Esther Sung

on 11/20/08 at 01:22 PM

(Erasing hunger.)

I had a late night, but it wasn't because I was out dancing. Between 10 p.m. and 2:30 a.m., I was at the World Financial Center/Winter Garden for CANstruction. This year marks CANstruction's 16th annual competition in which architecture and engineering firms design and build objects all out of cans of food. This fundraiser takes place primarily in cities all across North America, but also abroad, all with the same purpose: to raise awareness for the plight of the hungry, as well as to raise funds for food banks.

See more photos of some of the finished entries, as well as some in-progress as of 2:30 a.m., after the jump.

First, some random facts as shared by Amy Nanni of the Society for Design Administration (SDA helps run CANstruction):

- There are 40 entries for New York City's competition.

- The average number of cans used by each team: 2,500 to 5,000. (One team had over 14,000 cans.)

- The majority of cans were tuna, anchovy, and chicken. They're high
in protein and are in high demand by food banks across the country.
(Some of the more rare packaged foods I saw included pineapple juice,
Danish cookies, black pepper, and rice.)

Cans not used during construction were going immediately to City Harvest. When the structures are dismantled at a later date, those cans will also go to City Harvest.

Today, jurors will be viewing the entries and at an evening ceremony, winners will be announced in the following categories:-Juror's Favorite-Best Meal (based on the foods used)-Best Use of Labels-Structural Integrity-2 Honorable Mentions

But don't wait because many of these will be dismantled on Tuesday,
December 2! (The remainder will stay up until Monday, December 8.)